The inflammatory response in animal tissues has two phases, initiation and resolution. At the cellular level, initiation is characterized by edema and the accumulation of immune cells such as neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages. The initiation phase of the inflammatory response has long been recognized as an active process driven by metabolites of arachidonic acid such as the prostaglandins PGE2 and PGD2, which are chemo-attractants for eosinophils, neutrophils and monocytes, and the leukotrienes, especially LTB4 which elicit adhesion, chemotaxis, and aggregation of leukocytes. In order for the inflamed tissue to return to a healthy state, the excess inflammatory cells, cellular debris, and other remnants of the host defense and any invading microorganisms must be cleared. This ‘resolution’ phase of the inflammatory response was for many years believed to be a passive process, the result of the dilution of the chemo-attractants of the initiation phase. Today, resolution of inflammation is recognized as an active process, driven by various molecules. For example, protectins and resolvins are autacoids produced locally at the site of inflammation. They assist in resolving inflammation by recruiting non-inflammatory monocytes which differentiate into macrophages that can remove excess neutrophils and cellular debris. These molecules are part of a class of ‘specialized pro-resolving mediators’ (“SPMs”) of inflammation. Other SPMs include lipoxins, aspirin-triggered resolvins and aspirin-triggered protectins. See Serhan et al., “Lipid Mediators of Inflammation”, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2015; 7:a016311.
Excessive inflammation is widely recognized as a unifying component in many chronic diseases including vascular diseases, metabolic diseases, and neurological diseases. See e.g., Serhan, C. N., Nature 2014 510:92-101. Accordingly, the ability to resolve excessive inflammation is of importance to human and animal health.
Researchers have established a role for various SPMs in numerous disease models, including those relating to Alzheimer's disease, burn wounds, chronic pancreatitis, diabetic wounds, dermatitis, pulmonary inflammation, peripheral nerve injury, obesity, allergic airway response, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, acute lung injury, fibrosis, bacterial infection, peritonitis, dry eye, tissue regeneration, pain, adipose tissue inflammation, localized aggressive periodontitis, colitis, temporomandibularjoint inflammation, arthritis, postoperative pain, postsurgical cognitive decline, endotoxin shock, HSV-keratitis, allograft rejection, heart ischemia, bacterial pneumonia, cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation, vascular inflammation, fibromyalgia, and vagotomy. See e.g., Serhan et al., “Lipid Mediators of Inflammation”, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2015; 7:a016311. U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,008,282 and 6,627,658 describe lipoxin analogs and their use as inhibitors of angiogenesis. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,441,951, 5,648,512, 6,048,897, 6,316,648, 6,569,075, 6,887,901, 7,288,569, and 7,294,728, 7,741,369, and 7,741,369 describe lipoxin compounds and their use in treating cell proliferative disorders. U.S. Pat. No. 8,119,691 describes lipoxins and aspirin triggered lipoxins and their analogs in the treatment of asthma and inflammatory airway disease.
US 20060293288 describes the use of resolvins to treat gastrointestinal inflammation and diseases such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, infectious enteritis, antibiotic associative diarrhea, clostridium difficile colitis, microscopic or lymphocytic colitis, collagenous colitis, colon polyps, familial polyps, familial polyposis syndrome, Gardner's Syndrome, helicobacter pylori, irritable bowel syndrome, nonspecific diarrheal illnesses, and intestinal cancers.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,670,396, 7,053,230, 7,709,669, 7,737,178, and 8,349,896 describe aspirin triggered lipid mediators and their use in methods for treating inflammation, for example where the inflammation manifests as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, distal proctitis, rheumatoid spondylitis, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gouty arthritis, psoriasis, dermatitis, eczematous dermatitis, atopic or seborrheic dermatitis, allergic or irritant contact dermatitis, eczema craquelee, photoallergic dermatitis, phototoxic dermatitis, phytophotodermatitis, radiation dermatitis, stasis dermatitis, arterial inflammation, coronary infarct damage, restenosis, uveitis, iritis, conjunctivitis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, a spasmogenic condition, asthma, idiopathic bronchial asthma, arterial smooth muscle constriction, coronary spasm, myocardial infarction, ischemia-induced myocardial injury, cerebral spasm, stroke, inflammatory bowel disorder, spastic colon, mucous colitis, an allergic condition, eczema, an allergic bowel disease, coeliac disease, an allergic eye condition, hay fever, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, a condition involving blood platelet aggregation, coronary thrombosis, phlebitis, or phlebothrombosis, and methods of treating cardiovascular disease.
US 20120245229 describes methods of treating neuropathic pain, including pain associated with diabetic neuropathy or HIV infection, methods of treating post-operative pain, inflammatory pain, pain associated with cancer, and pain associated with fibromyalgia, by administering resolvins.
Lim et al. describes the analgesic potency of SPMs in a large number of inflammatory pain models and characterizes resolvins and related substances as therapeutic candidates for preventing deterioration of inflammation and pathologic pain. See Lim et al. “Biological Roles of Resolvins and Related Substances in the Resolution of Pain” BioMed Research International 2015, pp. 1-14, Article ID 830930. Lin also notes that “the powerful potencies” and “negligible adverse effects” of these molecules make them attractive candidates agents for clinical use.
US 20150126602 describes oils with anti-inflammatory activity containing natural specialized proresolving mediators and their precursors, such as 18HEPE and 17HDHA, and methods of using same for treating an inflammatory condition such as cardiovascular disease (including atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, endothelial hyporeactivity, cardiac infarction and cerebral stroke), metabolic syndrome (e.g., characterized by loss of insulin sensitivity, obesity, hepatic steatosis and/or cholestasis), neurodegenerative disease (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis and apraxia), atopic/allergic reactions, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory pain, acne, psoriasis, rosacea, asthma, acute lung injury, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, sepsis, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, periodontitis, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, macular degeneration, dry eye syndrome, gastric ulceration, cancer, and auto-inflammatory disorders.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,378,444 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,595,341 describe analogs of lipid mediators derived from omega-3 fatty acids and methods of use for treating inflammatory, angioproliferative, cardiovascular, thrombophlebotic, vascular, ocular, dermatologic, neurodegenerative, pulmonary, endocrine, reproductive, rheumatologic and gastrointestinal diseases.
There is a need to develop compositions able to deliver SPMs and other lipid mediators of inflammation, including their analogs and derivatives, in therapeutically effective amounts to target tissues in order to fulfill the therapeutic promise of these compounds and translate the many promising in vitro and cellular pharmacology observations into clinical benefits. The present invention addresses these needs.